Australia: Revision Of Commonwealth Procurement And Grant Policies To Improve Indigenous Business And Employment Opportunities
Public Law Report

On 25 February 2010, the Hon Lindsay Tanner MP, Minister for Finance and Deregulation, and Senator the Hon Mark Arbib, Minister for Employment Participation, announced the enhanced Indigenous Opportunities Policy (IOP). Under the enhanced IOP, procurement and grant policies are to be revised to maximise indigenous employment, training and supplier opportunities.

The enhanced IOP will apply to Australian Government agencies subject to the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (Cth) (FMA agencies) conducting projects in regions where there are significant Indigenous populations and which are valued at $5 million or more ($6 million or more for construction).

Where projects are to occur in regions where there are significant Indigenous populations and meet the requisite financial thresholds, FMA agencies will be required to:

• consult with the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR), the Commonwealth Indigenous Coordination Centres or equivalent Commonwealth Office, and community council or group, as appropriate, in the planning stages of those projects, and
• in each procurement process under those projects, require each tenderer to submit as part of their tender a plan for providing training and employment opportunities to local Indigenous communities and for the use of local Indigenous suppliers that are small and medium enterprises.

As the IOP will apply to projects involving expenditure in regions where there are significant Indigenous populations, FMA agencies will need an understanding of what is meant by "region where there is a significant Indigenous population". DEEWR has published on its website at www.deewr.gov.au/ iop a map setting out the areas with a significant Indigenous population. These areas include: Darwin, Jabiru, Katherine, Cape York, Rockhampton, Bourke, Dubbo, Wagga Wagga, Queanbeyan, portions of the Sydney Indigenous Region and all of Tasmania.

It has been suggested that parts of the IOP will commence on 1 July 2010 with full implementation by 1 January 2011. H owever, it is currently unclear what parts of the IOP will be implemented on 1 July 2010 and what parts will be implemented by 1 January 2011. In any case, all FMA agencies will need to consider how they will revise their procurement and grant policies and processes to accord with the enhanced policy. To assist with this process, D EEWR has indicated that it will publish on its website information and guidance for FMA agencies by June 2010. We will provide an update on these guidelines in a future edition.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.